THE PARISH CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION

The single-nave parish church dominates over Vrbnik old town core from the highest point of the cliff above the sea. The first mention of the parish church is in 1325 in the Statute of the Brotherhood of St John the Baptist. It has been reconstructed and upgraded several times. In the 16th century, probably on the site of an older building, a new one was erected and turned in the north-south direction. Today's façade dates back to the 19th century. In the middle of the altar space there is a wooden altar and in the background a large marble altar made by the sculptor Ivan Rendić. The great gilded wooden altarpiece (which is currently being restored) is the work of an unknown master from the 16th century, showing Mary’s Assumption to heaven in the centre, and the sides display the statues of: St Andrew, St Peter, St Jerome, St John the Baptist, St Nicholas, St Francis, St Anthony of Padua, St Saint Sebastian, St Lawrence, St Stephen, Virgin Mary, Archangel Gabriel and in the middle, the resurrected Christ. The coffered ceiling is the work of the sculptor Ivan Volarić Piturić from 1929, and shows Mary’s Assumption modelled on Tizian’s Assunta. In the church there are 5 side altars dedicated to: the Sacred Heart of Jesus, St Joseph, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our Lady of Lourdes and the Holy Cross. In the oldest part of the church is the Gothic Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary, which was according to tradition commissioned by Ivan VII Frankopan. The altar is decorated with a wooden altarpiece obtained in Venice in 1477, depicting the Virgin and Child offering the rosary to St Dominic and St Catherine of Siena. The medallions display 15 mysteries. The donors, Ivan VII Frankopan, his wife Elizabeta with their children, Nikola and Katarina, kneel at the bottom.